


Aftermath

by ChocolateChipMaster



Series: Gentron Week [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Gentron Week, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Post-Voltron: Legendary Defender Season/Series 07, Prompt: I love you, Serious Injuries, Worried Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 17:17:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20195866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChocolateChipMaster/pseuds/ChocolateChipMaster
Summary: Keith is heavily concussed in the aftermath of Earth's liberation. Shiro comes to visit.





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> For the final prompt of Gentron Week: "I love you." 
> 
> Enjoy!

Watching a team of doctors pull Keith’s prone body from the wreckage of the Black Lion was quite possibly the most horrifying thing Shiro had ever seen.

Keith was so _still. _Head lolling in the arms of those who carried him, his helmet missing and a thick smear of red across his forehead and down his face. Shiro had spent the following frantic hours as the Paladins were retrieved from their Lions demanding answers, pressing everyone he knew of about the status of his team. No one answered him.

So, instead, Shiro sat in the waiting room for the hospital, bouncing his leg and just _waiting._ Waiting with his breath held for something to go wrong, for the doctors to approach him with that solemn look. God, what if the injury was worse than Shiro thought? What if Keith’s skull had been fractured? What if-

“Captain Shirogane?"

Shiro’s head whipped up to stare at the doctor standing in front of him. She held her clipboard close to her chest and her lips were pursed, but she didn’t look as forlorn as Shiro had been dreading. Weight eased off his shoulders.

“Yes?” He said thickly.

“Your teammates are all in stable condition,” she said. “Their injuries are severe, but after a bit of time they’ll make a full recovery.”

“Thank God,” Shiro said. He bowed his head, his eyes feeling a lot wetter than they had previously. “Thank _God.”_

When telling this story later, Shiro would like to recount it with a little more grace. About how he drew himself up to his full height and demanded to see his teammates and how he certainly did _not _release a high-pitched keen that made heads turn to look, or that he absolutely didn’t start to cry.

But he totally did.

In the days following, Shiro made a point to visit each one of his teammates - conscious or not - and ensure their wellbeing for himself. Lance was nursing a dislocated shoulder, Hunk’s leg had been broken, Allura was disoriented and in pain from a hit to her head, but otherwise alright, and Pidge had managed to both break her ankle and slice open her arm. Keith, however, was rarely conscious and when he was, he was disoriented from his terrible concussion.

At the very least, Shiro thought, brushing Keith’s bangs from his eyes to get a look under his bandages, the cut on his forehead was healing up nicely. It had been bad enough to warrant stitches, but it was starting to look a lot less red.

In the corner, Krolia stood leaning against the wall with Kosmo curled at her feet. She kept her eyes on the heart monitor at Keith’s bedside, silently counting the beats. In his seat, Shiro leaned back with a sigh, checking his watch. He had to be back at the Garrison in about a half-hour, but that was fine. He still had plenty of time before he actually had to leave.

It was Krolia who finally broke the silence. “I suppose I have to thank you, don’t I?”

Shiro lifted an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Taking care of him when I couldn’t,” Krolia nodded at Keith. “He wouldn’t be the man he is today if not for you. So...thank you.”

Shiro’s mouth opened and closed. He couldn’t figure out what to say in response to that. In all honesty, he didn’t feel as though he’d done anything. All he’d seen in Keith was a troubled kid who needed a home - a _family _\- and the rest was Keith working to better himself on his own. All Shiro had really done was to give him a chance. Something far too many people had failed to do.

“You’re welcome,” Shiro murmured, unable to say anything else. Krolia smiled and leaned down to scratch Kosmo. His enormous tail thumped happily against the floor. “He’s been through a lot,” Shiro added without thinking.

Krolia paused mid-scratch. “I know. The Quantum Abyss showed me a lot of it. If I ever see _any _of his foster parents again…” she bared her fangs, leaving the threat unfinished. Shiro couldn’t help but agree with her sentiment.

“You and me both,” he muttered. He glanced back at Keith.

Krolia sighed and stepped around Kosmo to head for the door. “I’m going to go get some of the brown stuff that keeps you humans awake.”

“Coffee?” Shiro tried and failed to hide his amused grin.

“Yes, that,” Krolia said. “Do you want anything?” 

“No,” Shiro shook his head. “Thank you, though.”

Krolia nodded and left the room. Kosmo took one look at the door shutting behind her and reacted, stretching and teleporting to the foot of Keith’s bed like Krolia had made it very clear he wasn’t supposed to. Shiro gave the wolf a dry look, but he just gave Shiro a goofy dog grin and wagged his tail. Immediately, Shiro’s resolve to tell him off faltered.

“Fine,” he muttered. “But only until Krolia comes back. Understood?” He had no idea if Kosmo understood or not, but he chose to think the wolf did when he yipped and made himself comfortable on the bed.

Piled on at least three pillows, Keith groaned softly, slowly blinking awake. Awkwardly, he shifted his hand to lift his bandage-clad arm and block out the light from the window that was shining directly into his eyes.

“Hey, buddy,” Shiro said, keeping his voice soft. Keith turned his head lethargically to face Shiro and a little smile spread across his face.

“’iro,” he said wisely.

“Good to see you, too,” Shiro hummed. “How are you feeling since you last woke up?” Keith made a face and did a slow see-saw with the hand still raised to blot out the sun. Shiro sighed, “the same, huh?”

“Mhm,” Keith said. “How’re...the others?”

“Better,” Shiro said. “Pidge regained consciousness yesterday. Matt’s been entertaining her with a dramatic recreation of all of his adventures in space. Lance and his family reunited again and his nieces and nephews seemed very happy to see he was okay. And-”

“Whoa, hey-” Keith moved his arm to press his finger against Shiro’s lips. “Too...too fast. Slow down. Can’t...concentrate.”

“Right, sorry,” Shiro murmured. His eyebrows knitted. “Do you want me to leave so you can go back to sleep?”

“Stay,” Keith’s eyes turned pleading.

Shiro checked his watch. He had to leave soon but he could care less if he was a bit late to a meeting he didn’t want to attend to begin with.

“Okay,” he agreed. “But only until Krolia comes back.”

“Mom?” Keith turned to look at the corner his mother had been occupying for the past few days. “Where is she? And-” he looked down at the foot of the bed, at his enormous slumbering space wolf. “_Kosmo-”_ he dragged the name out. “You’re not supposed to _be there.”_

“Krolia’s just getting some coffee,” Shiro reassured him, lips quirking into an amused smile at the sight of Keith trying to push Kosmo out of the bed with his feet. “Extra espresso, I’m guessing, since coffee apparently doesn’t work as well on Galra as it does humans.”

Keith murmured something and gave up on his brief war with Kosmo. He turned his head to face Shiro, blinking slowly. His pupils were horribly dilated. Shiro’s heart lurched in sympathy and he stood to go close the blinds across the window. As he did so, he could hear Keith shifting in the bed to watch him. 

“Hey, Shiro?” Keith called.

“Hm?”

“Love you. Don’t feel like...I tell you that enough.”

Shiro’s hands froze in place on the blinds. For one terrible moment, he’d heard Keith’s voice rasp out those same words with a hot knife pressing closer and closer to his face.

Keith continued, unaware that anything was amiss. “You gave me a second chance. Took me under your wing. Made me a part of your family. Y’know?”

“Yeah, Keith. I know,” Shiro turned around, banishing the last of the bad memories and turned to smile at Keith still lying on the bed, disoriented. “I love you too, buddy.”

Keith smiled widely. It was the biggest one Shiro had ever seen on his face.

“’m glad,” he murmured.

“Get some rest, Keith,” Shiro murmured, already taking notice of Keith’s fluttering eyelids. “I’ll be here when you wake up again. I promise.”

“Mmm,” said Keith. He let his eyelids fall shut a moment later. Within seconds, he’d fallen back asleep.

The door opened with a quiet hiss. Krolia stepped back in with a steaming styrofoam cup in her hands. Kosmo reacted instantly, teleporting back to his spot in the corner, but from the sharp look Krolia shot the wolf, he’d not gone unnoticed.

“I’m back,” she said, crossing the room. “Did he wake-” she cut herself off. “Are you crying?”

Shiro stiffened. His flesh hand flew to his face where it had become suspiciously wet. He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, shocked by just how many tears he’d managed to shed.

Concerned, Krolia crossed the room and set her cup down on Keith’s bedside table. She peered up into Shiro’s face, frowning.

“You don’t appear injured,” she murmured. “What happened?”

“Nothing I’m fine. I just-” Shiro drew in a deep, shuddering inhale. “You’ve got a great son. You know that?”

“I know,” Krolia’s expression softened. “And he’s got an equally incredible brother.”

Shiro beamed.

**Author's Note:**

> This actually was so sweet to write and I'm glad I got to end Gentron Week off with my favorite relationship in the show!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
